A review by bract4813mypacksnet
Catching London by MV Ellis

4.0

Catching London is M. V. Ellis’s debut novel about Arlo, a rockstar and, London, a budding photographer/ex-ballet dancer. Arlo, the is the archetypal bad boy. London was recently in an automobile accident that severely injured her and killed her fiancé. The story utilizes several romance tropes: an alpha-male bad boy who f*cks every woman he can and the damaged heroine.

This book had potential, but its beginning was so hyper I nearly quit reading as London runs through a house that’s not hers stripping her clothes off due to her arachnophobia. I understand that New Adult is sex (including detailed sex scenes), bad boys, and too much drama as young people explore their options in life. Neither protagonist appears to have moved beyond adolescent hormones and even started moving into adulthood. The sex scenes were lusty, but often gratuitous and lacking the true connection between lovers that would have made for great sex scenes.

London was prone to long monologues of I-lust-for-him / I-love-him / I-can’t-trust-him that are repetitive. The dialogue between the two, while often catchy, were just as often snarky and, like the sex scenes, lacking in true connection.

There is also, despite London's moans and groans about her doubts regarding Arlo, there is really very little dramatic tension throughout.